After reading the opening of Life and Times of Michael K by J. M. Coetzee,
“The first thing the midwife noticed about Michael K when she helped him out of his mother into the world was that he had a hare lip. The lip curled like a snail’s foot, the left nostril gaped. Obscuring the child for a moment from its mother, she prodded open the tiny bud of a mouth and was thankful to find the palate whole.
To the mother she said: ‘You should be happy, they bring luck to the household.’ But from the first Anna K did not like the mouth that would not close and the living pink flash it bared to her. She shivered to think of what had been growing in her all these months. The child could not suck from the breast and cried with hunger….”
I thought, “This is not gonna end well.” But it has been a breeze of a read, which is always a good sign. And as the author has several books to his name, I have lots to look forward to :)
